Chelsea skipper John Terry gets the elbow - from Bruno Alves - and is knocked out cold

Chelsea captain John Terry was knocked unconscious during the Blues' 1-0Champions League victory over Porto at Stamford Bridge.

Terry was left poleaxed by an elbow from Porto captain Bruno Alves in the first half but managed to recover to complete the full 90 minutes last night.

The England captain received lengthy treatment on the pitch and was clearly left groggy by the collision, on the edge of the Porto penalty area.

'I went out for a little bit but managed to come round,' Terry confirmed. 'It's a little bit sore still.'

Out cold: Porto's Eduardo Bruno Alves tends to Chelsea skipper John Terry - after knocking him out with his elbow

Terry's painful night was made a little easier to cope with when Nicolas Anelka settled Chelsea's opening Group D game with a winner three minutes after the interval.

The France international beat Porto goalkeeper Helton at the second attempt to put the Blues top of the group.

But Chelsea had to hang on towards the end of the game, goalkeeper Petr Cech making a handful of fine saves.

Anelka seized the chance to shine in the absence of banned striker Didier Drogba, and coach Carlo Ancelotti was more than pleased with his contribution.

'Anelka is a great player,' said the Italian. 'With Drogba or without Drogba, he can play alone in the centre of the attack and together with Drogba. I am very happy for him, because he is doing very well now.

'Our attacking play was good in the first half, and we had a problem in the second half to maintain that. I don't think that Drogba was missed tonight.

No, I'M the ref: John Terry looks confused after his head injury and argues the toss with match official Konrad Plautz

'I think the first half was difficult, because we wanted to pass the ball in the centre - and Porto closed us down.

'After we scored, we had opportunities to score a second goal. But we didn't keep the ball or control the game towards the end.

'I know Porto very well - they are a very good team. They played football tonight very well. The amount of shots on goal they had was not a surprise to me.

'But if we win all the games, we cannot always play the best. Sometimes we have to win without playing well.

'This is another important thing for the team. It is impossible to play well in all the games. Sometimes we have to win with other characteristics.'

Porto boss Jesualdo Ferreira felt his side were unlucky not to come away with a share of the spoils after some classy counter-attacking in the final 20 minutes.

'It is very difficult for us to swallow this result,' said Ferreira. 'Chelsea controlled the game in the first half and were very attacking - but we reacted well.

'In the first half, the game was more balanced. The goal was a bit unfair on us, coming so soon after half-time. In the second half, we were unlucky not to have scored goals ourselves.'